It'll Last Longer
by rustbucket
Summary: Starlight Express fanfic. Dustin and Sparrow finally realize they're more than friends. Sappiness and silliness ensues.


Dustin sat alone, outside the roundhouse, watching some of the young engines playing on the turntable. They really shouldn't have been, but they'd had to get an adult to watch over them, to get permission to play on it. He'd been dragged into it, the little ones saying that since he'd just turned eighteen, he counted as said adult. He looked up, as a friend of his sat next to him, and smiled.  
  
Sparrow, a young steam locomotive, seemed to be the only person, besides his friends, that treated him with any respect. She wasn't often around, and didn't know him very well, but he often felt more comfortable hanging around with her, than with the other freight. It wasn't Ihis/I fault, and frankly, he didn't really care for the freight, they tended to be in bad moods, and dragged him into a bad mood, too.  
  
"Hey, bud." she said, apparently in a good mood. "Kids dragged you into watching them play, again, did they?"  
  
"Yeah… Don' really mind 'em, though, jus' ignore 'em, an' pretend they ain't really there…"  
  
Sparrow laughed, and good-naturedly punched him in the shoulder. He knew she was tomboyish, and God, she had a strong arm, but he still had a strange attraction to her. He couldn't admit it, though. He doubted she noticed, anyway. He grabbed her in a gentle headlock, and mussed her hair, making her shriek and laugh.  
  
"Oh, you scamp!" she yelled, and grabbed his hands, trying to keep him from mussing her hair, again. "You know I just hate it when you do that!"  
  
"Tha's the point, dearie!"  
  
The two looked up, as the children stared. Sparrow blushed, and Dustin let go of her wrists, snickering.  
  
"Take a bloody picture, why don'cha?" he called. "It'd last longer!"  
  
The children ran off, giggling, and laughing, as Belle came up, and called them to dinner. She looked over at the couple, and smiled.  
  
"And you two better show up, too." she called. "Otherwise, you'll end up having rumors spread by the kids."  
  
"Be there in a few, Belle!" Sparrow called.  
  
"Hurry, you know how fast it goes."  
  
Sparrow sighed, as Dustin stood and helped her to her wheels. He smiled, as she started toward the roundhouse door, and waved.  
  
"See ya."  
  
Sparrow turned, and stared. She looked sort of disappointed, and clearly a tiny bit upset. He stared back, and rubbed his hand along the back of his neck. He wanted to say something, but didn't quite know how to say it. He sighed, and started toward his area of the train yard.  
  
"So, you're not going to dinner?" she asked. "I was hoping you'd be there. I wanted to talk."  
  
"Well… I jus'… I really ain't that hungry… I think I'll jus' go 'ome, if it's all the same to you…"  
  
Sparrow sighed, and shook her head. She knew Dustin far better than that, and knew he never missed a meal, unless something was really and truly wrong. And she got the feeling that Ishe/I was that something. And it hurt her deeply. She really wanted a chance to talk to him, before one of them was taken away on a run.  
  
"Dustin, please… Just come to dinner. I really want to have a word with you."  
  
"Well, if you say so… I dunno 'ow much I'll eat, but…'  
  
"Just hush, and come to dinner, with me."  
  
"Fine, luv. I'll come."  
  
Sparrow smiled, as Dustin held out an arm, and wrapped her arm around his. He thought he'd faint, when she did that. It seemed to him that she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. He had no clue why, but he wanted to sing, because she was next to him. He'd never felt that way about a girl, before.  
  
When they arrived in the roundhouse, the yelling stopped, and the whispering started. They'd been too late to stop the children telling rumors. Sparrow shook her head, as Dustin turned red. She was not embarrassed in the least, he could tell. It was a sad thing, when she could hold her head up high, among their friends, and he couldn't do the same. He supposed, though, that he should just grin and bear it, being that they made a pretty odd pair. After all, you rarely saw a female steam locomotive. He didn't know what to do, but then again, he didn't care.  
  
Sparrow let go of his arm, and rolled over to the line. He followed, trying his best to ignore the stares of the other trains. He hated being stared at, almost as much as he hated being told he had a head full of rocks. Since he was used to it, though, he just plain ignored it. He remembered being younger, and getting into a ton of fights, because of the way he was treated. Oddly, Sparrow had often been the one to stick up for him, but that was only when she was staying in the area. He'd always considered her his best friend, and didn't know why he even considered asking her what he was about to, when they sat down.  
  
"What do you want, hon?" Dinah asked. "Hey, Dustin! C'mon, y'big ol' lug, tell me what you want!"  
  
"Dustin, is something wrong?" Sparrow inquired, just after. "We've been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes."  
  
"Oh, sorry… Just the usual, Dinah… And thanks…" he said. "I'm fine, Sparrow, jus' tired… Been workin' too 'ard, lately, I think."  
  
Sparrow laughed, as they paid, and left the line. Dustin felt a smile tug at his lips, and held back a laugh of his own. The steamer's laughter was some of the most infectious he'd ever heard. He didn't want to laugh behind her back, though, he knew her temper flared up easily. He'd been on the receiving end of her anger, before, and didn't want to go through that, again. He sat across from her, at the table she sat at. It was in an empty area, nobody was within ten feet of him or her, and that meant that they could, if they weren't loud, talk privately.  
  
"So, you wanted to talk to me?" he asked. "I wanted to talk to you, too…"  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
Dustin looked up, as the Rockies rolled over to them. He sighed, not in the mood for their good-natured teasing. It was fun, while it was going on, but afterward, he was left with hurt feelings, sometimes. It didn't always bother him, unless they were teasing him about his size, or how uneducated he was. It wasn't as if he was at fault for either one. He couldn't help it. And he was learning, after all. It just wasn't fair…  
  
Rocky sat next to Sparrow, and Rockies Two and Three sat on either side of Dustin. The boxcars clearly wanted trouble, as usual. They knew Dustin was up to something, and wanted to mess about with him, for a bit.  
  
"Well, now, don't you two make the cutest couple?" Rocky asked.  
  
"Shut up, One." Sparrow retorted. "You're just jealous."  
  
The boxcar rolled his eyes, refusing to admit she was right. He nodded, and his brothers each punched Dustin in the shoulder closest to them, and they all grabbed their food, and sped off to another table. Sparrow shook her head, and continued their conversation.  
  
"Dustin, I'd like to talk about… You know… Us…"  
  
"Us?"  
  
"Yeah… I mean, what is it between us? Is it friendship, or what?"  
  
Dustin sighed.  
  
"I honestly dunno, luv."  
  
"Love… Hmp. Maybe…"  
  
Dustin looked at the engine. He hadn't meant it, that way. He'd always called her 'luv'. That's just the way he was. He couldn't stop staring, unable to believe she'd wanted to talk about the same thing he had. He'd loved her for a long time. He couldn't believe that she loved him, too. It was just impossible! Truly impossible! She was perfect, in his eyes, and he was… Well, he was uneducated, slow, somewhat overweight, and his general sensitivity tended to drive the girls away, rather than draw them to him.  
  
"Sparrow?"  
  
"I think we oughtta go out to the yard, maybe, to talk about this…"  
  
"Okay…"  
  
Dustin cleaned up their area. If anything could be said for him, he was a gentleman. While most of the freight trucks were tough and strong, he was kind, and gentle, normally, and preferred to hang out with the trainlets and the steam locomotives, and even the passenger cars, at times. He helped her stand, and they rolled out the door. Giggles followed them, but they ignored the laughter.  
  
He felt Sparrow's hand tighten around his, and smiled at her.  
  
"You know, I wanted to say the same thing, to you…"  
  
"Really?"  
  
Dustin nodded.  
  
"I 'ave something else to say, now, though."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I love you."  
  
Sparrow smiled. She turned sort of pink, and lowered her eyes, then. She seemed to be debating something, and Dustin could tell it frightened her. She shook her head, and backed away a few feet.  
  
"I… Dustin, what would Poppa think? I mean… He's sort of protective of me, and so is Belle. What would they think?"  
  
"I tell you what I think, dear." Belle said, as she came toward them, following Poppa, who'd wanted to find out why they'd left the roundhouse so early, and during dinner. "I think you two make a good pair."  
  
"So do I." Poppa said. "Not that it matters, anymore, Sparrow. You're an adult, now. You have the right to make your own decisions."  
  
Sparrow smiled, and gave her parents a grateful look. She wrapped her arms around Dustin, and leaned her head on his shoulder. Dustin stared down at her, for a moment, then gently tilted her face toward his. He glanced at Poppa and Belle, who smiled, and only nodded. He smiled back, then kissed her. He pulled away, when he heard the trainlets he'd been watching earlier giggling.  
  
"Why don't you take a picture?" he grumbled. "It'll last longer:" 


End file.
